it is president obama talking to the senate. he's talking to the senate democratic leader, harry reed, talking to move forward with some sort of smaller package to avert those tax hikes that are set to kick in. and obviously there's going to need to be some buy-in from the senate minority leader, republican mitch mcconnell. so that's where things stand. and president obama is actually hopeful that something could still be pulled off. listen. >> nobody can get 100% of what they want. and this is not simply a contest between parties in terms of who looks good and who doesn't. call me a hopeless optimist. but i actually still think we can get it done. >> reporter: now, of course, if the senate were to pass something and reconvene on december 27th, don, it would also then need to pass the house. but the expectation is that whatever would be worked out in the senate, if it is, would pass the house hopefully not just with republican support, but it would need democratic support, as well. and just to be clear, the thing that president